He sat and stared off into space for a while; got up to pace a triangle between the shower, the trainer's table and his cubby; and then stood with his hands on his hips and his head rocking in disgust.

"I have confidence in this group, but that makes me even more frustrated," the Warriors' power forward said. "When you don't think you have the horses to win the race, you kind of give yourself a 'Well, we tried' kind of thing, but we're better than a lot of teams that we've played. We're capable of getting it done, and we're just not doing it."

At some point during Lee's speech, in an otherwise silent US Airways Center on Dec. 15, he realized he wasn't talking to the media or to his teammates. That conversation was playing out in a very public forum, but Lee was actually talking directly to himself.

Through his first seven seasons in the NBA, Lee had been part of seven teams that didn't have the "horses." In New York and Golden State, his teams had gone 199-359 (.357) - never winning more than 36 games and never placing among the top two in a division.

After an All-Star performance that set the tone for finally winning 47 games and making his first playoff appearance with the Warriors last season, 2013-14 was supposed to be about reaching an even a higher level for Lee. He spent the offseason remaking his body and his jumper - committing himself to playing better defense on one end and stretching opposing defenses on the other end in an effort to lead the way.

But after a 106-102 loss at Phoenix, the Warriors found themselves at 13-12, and Lee found himself at a loss for answers.

Lee, the very guy who led the league with 56 double-doubles the season before, had just eight in his first 20 games. Through 25 games, he had dipped to averaging 17.1 points and 9.5 rebounds and the career 53 percent shooter was shooting below 50 percent.

"He was just missing shots that we were accustomed to seeing him make off moves he does in his sleep," head coach Mark Jackson said. "At the end of the day, I knew he was going to put a run together. I wasn't going anywhere else. I knew he was going to win ballgames for us. I knew there was no reason to panic."

Oddly enough, Lee studied video of his past isolation and post moves and realized he hadn't been panicked enough this season. In a word, he had become "hesitant" in pick-and-roll situations, on the block and even to shoot his usually accurate midrange jumper.

He always knew that he wasn't bigger or stronger than many of the uber athletes that play his position in the NBA. His gifts were that he played harder and with more skill - especially when playing at a higher pace.

Instead of showing patience when a teammate dumped the ball to him on the block, Lee got back to doing one or two quick moves and darting immediately to the front of the rim. The strategy set the Warriors off on a 9-1 run, including their current eight-game winning streak and four straight to start a seven-game roadie.

During the 10-game span, Lee is scoring 6.5 more points per game than in his first 25 and is shooting 11 percent better from the field.

"I've gotten to a point that, right now, I'm playing some of the best ball of my life," Lee said. "I know that being aggressive helps our team. If we have something going inside, that will balance out a lot of the jump shots we take, and it will also open up and make easier a lot of the jumpers Steph (Curry) and Klay (Thompson) need to take."

Curry has gotten much of the praise and All-Star pub during the Warriors' run, but he's averaged only 21.5 points on 42.8 percent shooting. Thompson has averaged 17.1 points on 43.6 percent shooting during the stretch, and Harrison Barnes has posted 7.9 points per game on 32.1 percent shooting.

Andre Iguodala and Andrew Bogut have shot the ball at a high percentage, but they have combined to score only 15.3 points per game. Lee has shouldered the load at 23.6 points on 59.9 percent shooting.

He carries the team when they're struggling, and he carries the team when the game slows down during crunch time.

Lee scored half the team's final 12 points in regulation to force overtime in the win over Cleveland on Sunday, had four points during a 7-0 run in Miami on Thursday after the Heat cut the fourth-quarter lead to four, and tallied 10 points during the third quarter in Atlanta on Friday when his team was falling behind by 15.

"He's had a different fire underneath him as of late, and that's what we expect from him," Curry said.

Jackson said: "The beautiful thing about him is that - even when he was out of rhythm - he was averaging 17 (points) and nine (rebounds). That's crazy. ... He completes us as a basketball team."

Road trip recap

How the Warriors have fared four games into their seven-game, 11-day trip:

Record: 4-0

Average victory margin: 6.75

Average rebound margin: +10.5

Average assists margin: +6.75

Game by game

Dec. 29: at Cleveland, W 108-104

Dec. 31: at Orlando, W 94-81

Jan. 2: at Miami, W 123-114

Jan. 3: at Atlanta, W 101-100

Sunday: at Washington

Tuesday: at Milwaukee

Wednesday: at Brooklyn

Sunday's game

Who: Warriors (22-13) at Wizards (14-16)

Where: Washington

When: 3 p.m.

TV/Radio: CSNBA/1050

Of note: The Warriors have won nine of their past 12 games against Washington and have taken three straight season series for the first time in franchise history. ... Since winning five of six games to draw to .500, the Wizards have dropped consecutive home games. ... Washington point guard John Wall's eight-game streak of scoring at least 20 points was snapped against Toronto on Friday, when he scored 11 points on 4-of-15 shooting. ... Wall and shooting guard Bradley Beal are combining to average 37.9 points per game, the second-best backcourt total in the league to the Warriors' Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson (42.6).

- Rusty Simmons

Powering up

David Lee has raised his game during the team's recent uptick. Here are his stats for the season's first 25 games compared with the past 10: